Hickson 21 in Eridanus

HICKSON	NAME	SIZE (M)	MAG (V)	SB
21a	NGC 1099	1.8X0.6	13.1	13.0
21b	NGC 1100	1.7X0.7	13.0	13.1
21c	NGC 1098	1.8X1.3	12.6	13.4
21d	NGC 1092	0.9X0.8	13.4	13.1
21e	NGC 1091	0.9X0.6	14.1	13.3

All five NGC galaxies in Hickson 21 were easily visible. Hickson 21A (NGC 1099) is faint, fairly small, very elongated 3:1 SSW-NNE, 1.5'x0.5', no concentration. Hickson 21B (NGC 1100), located 4.5' ENE is also faint, fairly small, elongated 5:2 WSW-ENE, weak concentration. A mag 14 star is off the SE side 1.7' from the center and a mag 13 star is 2.3' NNE. About 9' N is pair of faint galaxies; NGC 1091 = Hickson 21E and NGC 1092 = Hickson 21D. The "D" component is faint, small, round, 40" diameter, increasing to a bright core. NGC 1091 is just 1.8' WNW and appears very faint and small, elongated 4:3 WSW-ENE, 0.7'x0.5', no concentration. A mag 11.5 star is 2.4' NNW of center. Finally the most westerly member, NGC 1098 = Hickson 21C is fairly faint, fairly small, elongated 3:2 E-W, 1.2'x0.8'. Contains a small bright core and a stellar nucleus with direct vision. Located 5.2' SSW of mag 8.1 SAO 148582. - Steve Gottlieb